


Semper Fidelis

by yarriinwonderland



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Pre-Canon, Wrong Boy-Who-Lived
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-06-03 08:32:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6604036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yarriinwonderland/pseuds/yarriinwonderland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two scarred young men swear the oath to each other after seeing the ruins of what was, and struggling to draw the blueprints of tomorrow. The world is different, and yet all too similar to what could have been. Ten years later, two young brothers struggle to find where they belong in a world that worships at their feet and yet seeks to tear them apart. </p><p>Semper Fi. Always loyal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Devastation

**October 31, 1991**

* * *

 

Remus looked up at the smoking remains of Godric’s Hollow, and felt the world drop from beneath him. He collapsed to the ground, knees no longer holding him up. This was all that was left of Lily and James? What about the boys? His throat felt like it was burning, and he coughed to try to clear it but nothing was helping. Oh god, he thought bleakly. Where was I? How did I not stop it? He ignored the voice of reason in his head telling him about his recovery period. It was all bullshit in the face of these ruins. 

A heavy clap on his back startled him into hacking. He looked up to see Sirius’ tear stained face above him, a bundle swaddled in his arms, and a sling stretched across his chest. Remus scrambled to his feet- he knew that scent. Sirius deposited Rowan in his arms, gentle as falling snow. Remus rocked his godson gently, cradling him close, sniffing his scent. At least he seemed to be fine. Then he looked at the little boy’s face.

He growled, the beast inside him stirring wealyat the intensity of the emotion.  A garish red whiplash curled on  Rowan’s cheek, stretching from the bottom his chin to just under his left eye. Despite the injury, he slept soundly. Remus looked up at Sirius, who was holding Harry close, stroking his face. Grief and anger coiled in his belly like a cat eyeing its prey.

“What happened?”

“I...” Sirius stopped, tears streaming out of his face.  He took a deep breath and steadied himself. “I trusted Pe- Pettigrew, instead of you.”

“What does that mean? How did V-voldemort get to them? I thought you were the Secret Keeper?”

It took some time- more than he would have liked- to get Sirius to stutter out what had happened. The distrust in him. The trick of switching the secret keeper. Peter’s betrayal. The grief  and the anger were engulfed by emptiness. He felt like the weight of the world pressed down on his shoulders, and couldn’t muster the strength fell anything more than tired. He looked down at Rowan who was sleepily chewing on the fringe of his jacket. He was responsible for this kid now. It was a heady feeling. Because Lily and James-

He shoved the thoughts of them away. He had... had duties now. He could break down later but right now he needed to get Rowan and Harry safe. He looked up at his best friend. They stared at each other for indeterminable moments. He opened his mouth to speak, but shut it when he heard the sound of someone approaching from behind them. He quickly gave Rowan back to Sirius and turned to face the newcomer, wand out. Behind him, Sirius quietly cast the Disillusionment charm. 

It appeared to be Hagrid. Few would go through the effort of disguising themselves as someone not entirely human anyway, what with the risk of getting stuck in the form permanently. The lumbering half-giant peered out at him through the mass of beard and hair on his head. Remus didn’t relax, even as the man spoke to him, and Sirius canceled the charm.

“Remus? Tha’ you?”

“Hagrid? What are you doing here?” 

“Dumbledore asked me ter pick up young Rowan.”

“What do you mean?”

“He said tha’ You-Know-Who had marked ‘im with his symbol.” Peering over Remus, he eyed Rowan speculatively. “Tha’ looks like a symbol o’ his teh me. Snake on his cheek innit?”

Remus snorted derisively. The mark on his godson’s face looked more like a welt, or even a burn, than a symbol of the worst Dark Wizard since Grindelwald. Besides. With Lily and James... with them gone, he was responsible for the boy, not anyone else. Not even Dumbledore. He looked to the side to blink away sudden tears. Not now, not when he needed as many of wits about him as possible. He clamped a tight fitting lid on the jar of his emotions- he’d deal with them later. 

“You can’t take him Hagrid.” Remus said. “Beside’s, the mark doesn’t look like anything he’s known for. Why would he mark Rowan anyway? Lily and James are the one who managed to defeat him I should think.”

“D’yeh think tha’ matters teh You-Know-Who’s followers? Can yeh protect Rowan from anyone comin’ teh claim their pound of flesh?” Hagrid bellowed. His voice echoed throughout the yard, and Remus swallowed. Eleven feet of half-giant was something to be afraid of. 

“What about Harry?” Remus looked back to see Sirius crying. “What about my boy? He’s not marked the right way to get protection, eh? Voldie ain’t take enough from him?”

“I dunno if there’ll be room for little Harry,” Hagrid said gently. “Either way, ‘em both being together makes ‘em bigger targets teh me.”

Sirius sighed. “I suppose you can use my bike. It’ll be safer to use that if it’s just you and him.”  

“Can you at least tell me where you're taking him?” Remus pleaded.

“I won’t know mesself until I’m on me way,” He said. Remus swallowed hard. “But if I can, I’ll tell yeh where he is. No promises.”

He nodded, and turned to pick up the baby. He held him close and breathed in his scent. Who knew when he’d get to see him again. He reached a hand into his pocket and pulled out the bracelet that Lily had given him for his birthday. He slipped it onto Rowan’s wrist and kissed his forehead, and whispered a quick “I love you”, before handing him to Hagrid.

Within a few minutes Hagrid was gone, off in the sky to who knew where. More than ever, he felt like a failure. God, he hoped he hadn’t fucked everything up. He turned to Sirius. “What now?”

“I was thinking we could try Andy’s house? It’s the only place I can think of where we could possibly go.”

He ran a hand over his face and tried not to let his voice shake. “Sounds as good a plan as any to me.”


	2. Safe Haven

**November 1, 1991**

 

It’s well past midnight when they finally arrived at Andromeda’s house. Traveling magically with a sleeping toddler was ill advised, especially if one wanted the toddler to stay sleeping, so they decided to travel using car that Lily kept in a garage in the muggle section of Godric’s Hollow. Sirius held Harry in his lap the entire trip, leg shaking the whole way. He stared out the window, and sung low croons to the little boy. 

The drive took a little over an hour, and when they arrived in Trowbridge Remus’ entire body felt like a solid bruse, exhaustion crawling up his limbs, and making it hard to keep his eyes open. It was a good thing though, because it kept him from  breaking down into tears, even if the background vocals in his mind were a near constant train of “where is Rowan at?”. Being able to glance to his left and see that Harry, at least, was visibly safe was a blessing. It kept the anger and fear from mounting too high. 

Sirius rapped on the door, and then leaned his head against it. 

“Who is it,” called a female voice, smooth as honey.

“Andy, it’s Siri...” he replied. 

The sound of several deadbolts being unlocked echoed in the yard, and Remus was at Sirius’ back to steady him when it swung open. Andromeda Tonks stared at her younger cousin for some time before stepping back to let them in. Remus didn’t what had convinced the woman to let him in, but he assumed it was some Black family secret. Probably.  A man sat in an armchair, looking as regal as any Black, the king of his domain. Remus assumed that this was Andromeda’s husband Edward. The older woman slid onto his lap and he rested a comfortable hand around her waist, and gestured for the two, well three if one included Harry, to take a seat. Remus sat gingerly on the couch, keenly aware of his status as a guest in their home. The beast inside him shuffled, and settled down. 

“What do you need Siri?”Andromeda asked, voice soft. Sirius opened his mouth, perhaps to protest, but she shushed him. “We are Blacks, little cousin. What do you need?”

Sirius sighed, before straightening his back. Remus looked back and forth between the two, bewildered. Somehow the two had an entire conversation in just few sentences from Andromeda. He glanced at Edward, who looked as confused as he.

“Protection,” he said evenly. “For Harry.”

Andromeda looked at Edward. He frowned at Sirius. “You’re asking us to foster him? For how long?”

“I’m not sure. Until I can provide for him as I should.”

Edward shifted and was quiet for a time. The fire crackled merrily, and Remus couldn’t bring himself to relax. The muscles in his back and his legs were cramped, and he forced himself to unclench his hands. Even now, a week past the moon, his nails were still more beast-like than human and he could easily break the skin. And wouldn’t that be fun to explain. After what seemed an eternity, but couldn’t have been more than a minute, Edward spoke. 

“He’s family, of course he can stay.” He paused, and looked at the two of them. “But first, you need to tell us everything we might need to know. Everything.”

It was dawn by the time they finished. Andromeda walked them to the door, rocking Harry, who was still fast asleep. Remus cracked his neck. It had taken almost four hours of questioning before Edward was satisfied that he had enough information from them. “Where are you two going now?”

“I’m going to speak with Dumbledore. I need to find out where Rowan is.” He clenched his teeth. The professor would have answers for him one way or another. 

“I need to find Peter,” Sirius snarled. “He needs to pay.” And with a sharp crack and he was gone. Remus started to walked towards the car, but Andromeda stopped him with a hand on his arm. He looked back her, and taken aback by the raw concern on the older woman’s face.

“Feel free to come and visit Harry. He’ll need all the support he can get.” 

Remus nodded, struggling to swallow over the lump in his throat. He walked away before the tears fell. The last person who had looked at him with that kind of concern was Lily. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not super happy with this, but I'm reworking the outline and deciding on the arcs of this fic. I do have an end date. Well, an in world end date. June 4th, 2001, for those who would like to know. There will likely be three to five arcs, with time skips between each arc. I'll hopefully have more defined outlines as the weeks go by,

**Author's Note:**

> Yup. This is a "Wrong Boy-Who-Lived" story. With some uh some tiny changes to the usual. Both in this chapter and in the foreseeable future. The same, but different.


End file.
